What? I Don’t Have to Sign?

By Sun

I don’t know exactly since when, but after swiping my credit card at my local ShopRite store yesterday, I was, as always, waiting for the signature screen to show up, the cashier told me that since my transaction was only $22.5, less than $25, I didn’t have to sign it any more.”Really?”I asked back, just to make sure that I heard it right. After getting the confirmation, my first reaction was “This is convenient.” Yes, without the waiting and signing, every customer could save maybe a minute at the line and this definitely helps to shorten the checkout time. As of the reason to waive the signature, what I can think of is the relatively small size of the transaction. Twenty five dollars, not big deal. However, while providing customers with a convenient shopping environment is important, the safety of customer’s data should never be compromised. With this no-signature-required policy, I am not sure if I am still fully protected against small fraud of $25.

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Random thoughts

4 Responses to “What? I Don’t Have to Sign?”

Rebecca | Oct 25, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Yikes…I just get an uneasy feeling from that. When my credit card was stolen, the only fraudulent charges were $20 worth of gas, but it still made me feel uneasy. Though $25 is a small amount, I think it’s enough to require a signature.
Rebecca | Oct 25, 2006 at 12:45 pm
Oh, and your link is live on my site. Thanks again
Kestrel | Oct 25, 2006 at 3:18 pm
Actually, if you fight the charge on your credit card, the store is the one that’s out of luck, because by signing, you agree to the charge on the card, and they have no such proof that you ever agreed to the charge. So if you were to do a chargeback, they’d have nothing to fight you with and they’d just have to take the loss. So the “under $25″ is more an assessment of what the store is willing to lose.
The Sun | Oct 25, 2006 at 9:54 pm
Kestrel:
You have a very different view than I do and I agree with you that if eventually I have to fight a charge with the store, it’s unlikely that I will lose, but I still feel that requiring a signature at least gives me a sense of security.